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China. From empire to republic. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Manchu nomadic invaders Originally stabilized China Ruled for 300 years Ended with the Chinese Revolution of 1911. Qing Dynasty. Retained: Scholar gentry Ethnic Chinese admitted to imperial gov’t Civil service exams
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China From empire to republic
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) • Manchu nomadic invaders • Originally stabilized China • Ruled for 300 years • Ended with the Chinese Revolution of 1911
Qing Dynasty • Retained: • Scholar gentry • Ethnic Chinese admitted to imperial gov’t • Civil service exams • Confucian social hierarchy • Patriarchal authority (though widows could remarry)
Qing Dynasty • Tried to help peasants, but dramatic increase in population led to all sorts of problems • Famine • Civil unrest • banditry
Opium War (1839-1841) • Tension between China and the West • Emperor Qianlong called the King George III a barbarian; rejected trade goods • English refused to honor the emperor • Economic interest for English involvement • Tea • East India Company
Opium War • Tea • English wanted it; had nothing that China needed • Woolens, clocks, music boxes, curios • They had a colony in India! • East India Company: traded goods from India to Chinacotton didn’t reach high enough sales; opium was the answer
Tea England China Cotton & opium Manufactured goods Silver India Opium War
Opium War • Effects of opium trade in China: • Health problem • 1820s and 30s, silver leaving China destabilized the currencyfiscal problem • 1834 abolishment of the EIC’s monopoly increased the opium trade (hooray for Smithians!) • British antagonism
Opium War • Effects in China • British antagonism: • Official British representative in China (not EIC) • Took a hardline w/ China; violated Chinese regulations • China withdrew from British community • 1836 emperor suppressed opium, created internal conflict
Opium War • Lin Zexu (1785-1850) • Imperial commissioner • Appealed to Queen Victoria to end trade • Admonished merchants; had force to back him up; forced surrender of opium; made them sign a pledge to never trade opium21,306 chests delivered; took 23 days to destroy it • Continued to escalate issue • 1839, English sailors killed a Chinese villager • 11/1839, continued escalation • 12/1839, trade ceased • January 31,1840, war was declared
Opium War • Results: • Hong Kong to Britain in 1841 • Disgrace of Lin Zexu and Englishman Elliot
The Treaty of Nanjing and the Treaty System • August 29, 1842, ended the war • 5 ports opened to British: Canton, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai • 21 million Spanish silver dollars in reparations to England • Chinese relinquished rights to establish own tariffs (hooray for Smithian British!) • Hong Kong ceded to British “in perpetuity” • Extraterritoriality for British
The Treaty of Nanjing and the Treaty System • Most-favored-nation status to British AND to any other nation that gained a concession (US and France later gained it in 1844) • Opium trade expanded • Foreign gunboats allowed to anchor at treaty ports
Internal Crisis • Imperial failure to maintain order w/in the nation: • Grand Canal became impassable by 1849 • Yellow River, 1852, overflowed and diverted • Banditry • Poverty • Series of rebellions: Taipings largest
The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) • Founder: Hong Xiugan • Synthesized Christianity with Confucian and other Asian beliefs • Emphasized Old Testament—esp. the 10 Commandmentsdestroy the “idols” • Vision: • Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, egalitarian, God-ordained utopia
Taiping Rebellion • Taiping beliefs: • Banned: opium, tobacco, gambling, alcohol, prostitution, sexual misconduct, footbinding • Women equal to men • Economic egalitarianism • Monogamous marriages • Political structure: units=25 families, leaders combined civil, military, & economic duties • Anti-Manchu (“the devils”)
Taiping Rebellion • By July 1850, over 10,000 adherents; over 1 million by 1853 • Organized, armed resistance to Manchus • January 11, 1851, Hong’s followers proclaimed him “Heavenly King” • 1851, formally declared “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace”began march on Nanjing (1853, reached and overtook) • Good, capable leaders; ineffective government forces
Taiping Rebellion • No foreign support due to condescending language and failure to appease foreign powers • Leadership crisis in 1856
Taiping Rebellion • Beginning of the end: • Leadership failure • Inadequate implementation of stated policies • Leadership not following theories (concubinage) • Repelled Chinese: anti-Confucian as well as anti-Manchu
Zeng Guofan (1811-1872) and the Defeat of the Taiping • Dedicated Confucian; product of the system • Regional army leader from Hunan; capable leadersuccessfully launched counter-attacks • Managed to acquire Western army officers: “Ever Victorious Army” (British officer) and “Ever Triumphant Army” (French officers) • Well-funded • July 19, 1864 took Nanjing, followed by a blood-bath
Effects of the Taiping Rebellion • Estimated death toll of more than 20 million • Taipings inspired future revolutionaries • Conservatives admired Zeng Guofan • People struggled with choices Ren Xiong, served in military, but struggled w/ decision. Self-portrait.
China and the World • Treaty ports • British demand for new ports in China • Belief in free trade as stimulus • Treaties of Tianjin and Conventions of Beijing (total of 21 new ports) • Chinese migration to US (1852=25000 Chinese in US; 2xs that by 1887 in California alone) • Loss of land to Russia • Most-favored nation status by 1860: France, Britain, US, Russia
The final years of the dynasty • New reformers • Yan Fuinfluenced by Adam Smith & Social Darwinism, and argued that Western learning was needed to release Chinese energies • Kang Youwei (1858-1927)sought to create a constitutional monarchy like Japan • Dr. Sun Yat Sen
The dynasty’s final years • The Empress Dowager Cixi • Refused to reform (imprisoned revolutionaries) • Not quite completely • Allowed minor reforms such as military modernization, education reform, fiscal system reform • Corrupt • Supported the Boxer Rebellion from 1898-1901 as a means of ousting the foreigners
The Revolution of 1911 • Led by Sun Yat-Sen (who was technically in the US) • Prelude: • Gov’t desire to centralize • Gov’t desire to nationalize RR lines • Had to take out foreign loans • Revolution broke out • Emperor abdicated February 2, 1912 • China became a republic